As a tourist, you can enjoy lots of activities and sights when you visit Chiang Mai in the northern part of Thailand. You can visit any of the 300 Buddhist temples, sample the local delicacies, and even ride on an elephant. But it’s not quite the same if you’re living in Chiang Mai on a more permanent basis.

Living in Chiang Mai means finding a place to live and dealing with issues about food, transportation, and safety. With all things considered, actually living here is actually a fantastic option regardless of your age. Whether you’re a young adult eager to sample the next day’s adventures or a retiree trying to enjoy the more relaxed vibe, Chiang Mai is a great place to be.

I have met a lot of people while I have been living here that travel the world and many of those experienced travelers rate Chiang Mai as one of the best cities in the world. It’s a bold statement but most of them truly believe it as many of them return year after year and spend on average about 4 months a year here.

Here are some reasons why Living in Chiang Mai is great!

You won’t get bored. Who says you can’t enjoy all the tourist spots just because you live here? At the same time, the longer you live here you can find other spots that tourists don’t know about. Here, your days can be filled with endless adventures, though you can also relax in one of the numerous spas and retreats in the city.

You can find a cheap place to live here. In fact, you can make a case here that you can live reasonably with just a budget of about $1,500 a month. In some hotels you can negotiate with the hotel owner so you can stay long term for just 700 baht a night. With current exchange rates of 3 US cents for 1 Thai baht, that’s $21 a night or $630 a month. That’s actually quite expensive accommodations you can get, as some apartments can go for less than $100 a month, that’s if your willing to live on the outskirts of the city. With some full service hotels, you only need to spend about $600 a month.

The food is great. Chiang Mai is like any other city, you can find lots of restaurants that cater to different cuisines. That’s because expats of all nationalities have decided to relocate here and many of them have opened up restaurants. But you really should try the local street food and local fare like Khao Soi. A meal here can cost you just $1, and it’s very rare to spend more than $10 per person in an average restaurant. In fact, while local produce here is cheap you may find that it’s actually cheaper to just go to a restaurant to eat. Personally I like to mix with the locals and eat from a vast variety of street stalls that can be found all over the city.

The medical service is first rate. Thailand is actually a prime destination for medical vacations, and Chiang Mai has excellent hospitals and well-trained healthcare providers. Yet here again the going price is so much cheaper, as you can get a reasonably priced medical checkup and a hospital private ward costs only about $60 a day. You can also get premium insurance at good prices if you shop around! However, there also down sides you need to consider which I will list in the cons below.

The people are friendly. They also don’t try to rip you off at every opportunity, unlike some other places in Asia where they primarily see foreigners as their own ATMs. Here they just like to help you out and they tend to smile a lot too. Consequently, you may find yourself losing your grouchiness as well.

The weather is fantastic. That’s especially true from November to February, when you get temperatures of about 86 degrees F. It can get hot in March and April when the summer temperatures can get to 96 degrees F, but then again in Chiang Mai the mountainous location means that it’s still cooler here than most other places in Thailand. During the rainy season, the rains only last for an hour or so, but they do result in spectacular scenery.

It’s very safe.Crime, especially against foreigners, is very rare. It’s so safe here that a lone woman can walk in the city at the small hours of the night and not be afraid, however, I don’t recommend you do that! It is part of the local culture here that regards crimes as sins, so crime doesn’t really occur all the time. Besides, there’s even a special Tourist Police division here that specializes in helping out Westerners. They’re very quick to respond too, and they’ll really help you out in the off chance you need it.

It’s easy to get around. You can hire a tuk-tuk, or you can just hop on a Red Truck for 20-30 baht. As for flights to other parts of Thailand, you can find some great discounts flying out of Chiang Mai to other parts of Thailand, and the rest of Southeast Asia.

There no sex tourism vibe here. This isn’t Bangkok, so you don’t really have to encounter such things. It’s a more conservative place.

You can just relax here. In fact, “Just Relax” seems to be the unofficial motto of Chiang Mai. With foot massages lasting an hour and costing 200 Baht, stress isn’t something you have to endure at all.

Arts and festivals. You can experience the well-known Thai festivals in Chiang Mai like Songkran (Thai New Year) and Loy Krathong (The word loy (or loi) means to float, whilst krathong are small rafts or baskets.) Along with events just specific to Chiang Mai like: Chiang Mai Flower Festival normally held in February, Chiang Mai Inthakin City Pillar Festival and Chiang Mai Vegetarian Festival.

Night Markets – The most famous one being Night Plaza close to the ping river. Two other popular ones known locally as Saturday and Sunday Night Walking Street markets when the roads are closed to allow people to walk freely around the market stalls. Saturday one is situated around Wualai Road and the Sunday one is situated around Thapae Gate, both appear to get bigger week by week creating massive pedestrian zones around the areas.

Big expat communities consisting of old and young, the older generation falling into the retiree’s category. However, a mixture of old and young fall into the Digital Nomads and Vegetarians category. There is a diverse list of people in the City you just have to search online for Facebook groups online to see what I mean.

Daylight – 12 hours of daylight is the norm here, and the seasons are split into cool, hot and wet. This year 2017 has seen a lot of rain from June to September, but the last three years was very dry during those months. Oct to Jan is cooler and Feb – May is very hot.

Airport – Have listed this as a plus and know some would say it’s a minus due to noise and pollution.

Countryside – I like hiking so am spoilt for choice, although you have to remember this is the tropics and not a countryside walk in England. So you need to have the correct walking gear and loads of water!

Roadways – Although some may disagree, the roads in my opinion are very good especially the motorways connecting the cities. The drivers on the other hand are not so good and I will list that in the cons below.

Gardening – To be more specific the cost of plants. They are very cheap compared to the western world basically because everything grows so well here. If you have your own garden you can create an amazing place to chill out and relax. Surrounded by a multitude of colour.

International Schools– A good choice of international schools.

Shopping Malls – Apart from the markets there are a few Shopping Malls. The best three in my mind are: Central Plaza Chiangmai Airport, Central Festival and MAYA Shopping center.

Here are some reasons why Living in Chiang Mai isn’t so great!

What about the drawbacks? Sure there are some disadvantages here. You may miss your old friends and family back home, but then again this is true for any place that’s not your hometown. Specifically though, there are still a few disadvantages that’s specific to Chiang Mai. I won’t hold any punches as I want to paint an accurate picture and will try to do that from a western person’s point of view.

Pollution– Traffic here continues to grow and hence pollution levels are also on the rise, this subject gets aired on the internet a lot especially when the burning season commences (traditional slash and burn agricultural clearing process). Many of the full time expat residents will leave Chiang Mai mid-February and return in May to escape the burning season.

Language– the level of English here is OK but you may disagree if you have lived in other places like Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines. Then again this may give you the incentive to learn Thai!

Driving a motorcycle – Not really a con so why have I listed it? If you’re a proficient motorcyclist then OK. However, I have seen so many casualties in the hospitals, mostly caused by inexperienced drivers. If you haven’t got any real experience along with a real motorcycle license then give it some serious thought before hiring one!

Lethal roads – Thailand’s roads are currently ranked the second most lethal in the world after Libya’s by the World Health Organisation.

Footpaths Wheelchair and Pushchair unfriendly. – Footpaths for pedestrians are not good, in most places they don’t exist and when they do they are in a poor state of repair. This makes a lot of the city Wheelchair and Pushchair unfriendly.

Expensive western foods– If you’re a wine and cheese fan then be prepared to pay extraordinary high prices.

Import Tax– Goes hand in hand with 6 above it can cost you double when your buy goods from online stores like Amazon so do your homework.

Long Drawn out Visa and extension to stay process – The process for obtaining Visas and extensions to stay can be very time consuming and expensive compared to neighboring countries.

Expensive Hospitalised Bills. Retiring in Thailand and without health Insurance isn’t advisable especially if you are hospitalised as you will run up a big bill! This can be further exacerbated if you are trying to exist on minimal savings and a homeland state pension.

Dual pricing – For example: Water Parks in Chiang Mai. Day passes can be two thirds more for foreign tourists then locals. Never really got my head around that one, and I know foreigners get really upset about that and some even say they won’t come back here because of it.

Best to Rent – If you’re not a Thai, you can’t own local property though you can enter a 60-year lease. To make it easier on yourself, I would suggest that foreigners rent.

Tourist Trap – Being extremely popular the city has become a bit of a tourist trap so it might not suit those that want to escape that Touristy feel, but then again you can easily escape that by going for a walk into the mountains.

Zebra Crossings – it’s another one related to roadways. This is primarily a warning if you haven’t been to Thailand before. Simply put cars have priority over pedestrians on Zebra crossings, drivers just don’t stop!

The good stuff does appear to outweigh the bad here in Chiang Mai, especially if you consolidate the road related cons into one. Finally, and I know I have said this many times before but it’s so important to ensure that you are financially sound to ensure you can afford those unexpected expenses that cost more here than they would back in your home country.

Ask a hundred of young adults in their teens to talk about Chiang Mai, and very few would probably know about it. But among senior citizens, Chiang Mai retirement has somehow attained a mystical status. It’s the Shangri-La of all retirement destinations.

Chiang Mai is a beautiful city in Thailand, though the entire province is called Chiang Mai too. It’s an ancient city founded way back in 1296. It’s the “second city” of Thailand and it’s the polar opposite of Bangkok. Chiang Mai retirement living offers a slower pace of life and a very chilled out vibe, filled with great international community, great food, and picturesque mountain surroundings.

It’s quite clear why it’s a great place to go to when you retire, and here are some reasons why you should retire in Chiang Mai:

Retire close to some amazing mountain scene’s

Thailand Is a Popular Destination for Medical Vacations

As you get older, you may worry about the quality of the health care you get wherever you may be. Yet here in Thailand and in Chiang Mai in particular, the quality of the health care is fantastically first rate. Their doctors, nurses, and caregivers are just as good as any in the world.

What about the cost of care in Chiang Mai? In countries like the US and the UK, health care costs may be scandalously expensive, and even with health insurance it’s common for some people to go bankrupt when a family member because seriously ill. Here in Chiang Mai, the cost of living in Chiang Mai is lower and that applies to the majority of their health care costs as well.

If you visit a doctor for a basic medical checkup (blood tests, Xrays, ECG) and you don’t have insurance in the US, how much will those cost you? Here in Chiang Mai, it will cost you anything from 2000 Baht to 6000 Baht approximately. That sounds like a lot until you remember that 1 dollar is approximately 34 baht in US currency.

So you’re forking very little for a medical check-up. Back in the US, you would spend that in an evening out at a restaurant for a meal for two. For a stay in a private ward in a Chiang Mai hospital, it’s about 2,000 baht a day. So that’s just $60 a day and that’s a lot cheaper than many hotel rooms.

The country basically offers first rate care with good prices, and the same is true for the medical care in Chiang Mai. That’s one of the reasons why it’s among the top destinations for medical vacations in the world.

“The People Are Very Friendly”

You know how French waiters are supposed to act? Here the people are the exact opposite of that. The people are extremely friendly here, so much so that people call Thailand “The Land of Smiles”.

Here you have caring people who treat foreigners with camaraderie. They also hold a deep respect for the elderly, and as a retiree here you get to enjoy the kind of respect that’s not as common in Western cities.

You Won’t Get Bored

Some young adults seem to think of retirement as just sitting on a rocking chair on a porch, looking at the same view day in and day out. But that’s not exactly the life you will live here in Chiang Mai if you don’t want to. Instead, you can fill your days with exciting new adventures so that your friends and family back home can feel just a bit of envy of how you’re doing.

It’s not just the parades, festivals, the Buddhist temples and local galleries, and all the other tourist spots that will hold your attention here. You can find plenty of classes on a wide variety of subjects, and you certainly can find excellent cooking classes and lesson on local arts and crafts. In fact, you can be a teacher here too if you want subject to the right qualifications. Chiang Mai offers many opportunities to do volunteer work, so you can help out in whatever way you can.

As you get older, you may not be as eager to get on trips to various places even though they’re very inexpensive. Still, you can sit on a porch chair and gaze at the spectacular mountain views. You can also people-watch, and with the locals and the tourists moving on and about, it makes for a very fascinating scene. The days can just pass by very quickly here, and you certainly won’t get bored.

Plenty of Expats Here Can Help You Out

The country has about 40,000 people in the expat community. You’ve got plenty of different groups you can join so you can hang out with people who share your language and interests. Many of them are eager to give you tips on where you can find items like good coffee, affordable beddings, and the latest electronics.

Just by doing a basic search on face book will produce a listing of all kind of groups for example: Chiang Mai Latin Dance; Chiang Mai Animal Lovers; Eat in Chiang Mai; Chiang Mai Nomad Girls; Chiang Mai Expat Women’s Group; Chiang Mai Digital Nomads; Friends of Chiang Mai; Chiang Mai Wellness Community the list goes on and on…… You may be wondering why I listed a couple of Digital Nomad groups, as most people associate those groups with the younger generation. I personally know many digital nomads here in Chiang Mai, but the most successful ones are fifty – sixty plus in age!

Obviously, moving to Chiang Mai Thailand can present challenges and that’s especially true when you don’t know much. However, the other expats can help you out with your visa situation, and provide you tips on where to go so you can buy items you want. When you’re feeling homesick, a quick get-together with some people from the same country can perk you right up.

“One person caring about another represents life’s greatest value.”

–Jim Rohn

Final Word on Chiang Mai Retirement

I constantly see senior couples out and about doing all kinds of things here in Chiang Mai and I must admit from personal experience if they were back in England they would be at home sitting in their living room in front of a TV, because most of the time the weather would be against them limiting the things they could do outside.

If you retire in your home country, you end up basically looking back at your life. It doesn’t matter if you live in a retirement home, with your adult children, or alone in your own house. For the most part, you’re just reminiscing and thinking of old memories.

That’s the real lure of Chiang Mai retirement. You don’t have much time looking back because you have so much to look forward to. Every day is a new adventure—yet you get excellent care for a small fraction of the cost. For a retiree, it’s the nearest thing to reaching heaven on earth.

If you’re thinking of visiting Chiang Mai for a vacation or for considering it as a place for retiring and you need some help then go here.

It’s no secret that elderly care can be very expensive whether you are employing the help of caregivers or paying for nursing home care. People paying for assisted living for their elderly loved ones are usually met with high costs, varying among different facilities. Of course, there are different factors affecting the cost of care such as the state of residence, local laws, demand for residential care, the amount of activities in the home with which assistance is required, and tax credits. Those are only a few examples. This post gives you a very basic idea of the cost of elderly care in the USA and UK. Its by no means clear cut as the costs are loosely based on location and level of care.

Caregiver Costs

Caregivers always charge on an hourly basis. In most places in the United States, the average pay for home care range from $16 to $20 per hour. On average price paid for an hour of home care in England is £15.50. If you’re paying for a licensed medical professional to care for your aging parents, that’s going to cost you an extra $1-2 per hour. On the West Coast and mid-Atlantic states, on the other hand, the charge is higher at $20 to $24 per hour. On the bright side of things, home care providers don’t usually charge extra for caring for dementia or Alzheimer’s patients.

Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Cost

Speaking of patients suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease, there are assisted living facilities for them. They are often called Memory Care, and they cost a lot higher than a regular nursing home would. This is because they offer higher levels of care and extra security to prevent patients from wandering and getting lost. The costs of assisted living can vary greatly, depending on the area it’s situated in, and some facilities charge significantly higher than others. The average Alzheimer’s care cost is $4,300 per month, but it can get as low as $3,000 a month in some southern states.

In the UK Alzheimer’s Society calculations suggest that it costs an average of £100,000 for an individual’s dementia care. (www.alzheimers.org.uk)

Nursing Home Costs

Nursing homes charge per day, so you can imagine how the costs would add up. The average cost of nursing homes across the United States is $250 per day, with some places charging within the range of $150 to $300 per day. UK Care Home Costs and Fees range from £500 -£1500 per week and vary around the UK.

Today, the world is seeing a growth in the numbers of people living longer than before, and this isn’t just a phenomenon in first world countries like the United States. Developing countries in Asia, Africa, and other places in the world have almost two in three people aged 60 or over. It is estimated that by the year 2050, “there will be more old people than there are children under 15 for the first time in history,” according to the United Nations Population Fund.

While this is generally considered uplifting news because it means more people maintain their good health, these statistics will soon bring some serious problems for us to face: the longer people live, the more elderly care is required and the higher its costs will be. The pressure on the families and the government can be economically devastating.

This is worsened by the fact that more than 40% of people aged 60 years and older are suffering from various disabilities, including Alzheimer’s and dementia, which require an even higher level of care and medical attention. In developing countries, the most common conditions among the elderly are cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, hearing loss, osteoarthritis, and heart disease.

The Elderly Selling Their Homes to Pay for Care

In the last few years, there has been an alarming number of people selling their homes to be able to pay for nursing homes and assisted living.

Every year, an estimated 130,000 elderly persons are admitted into assisted living, and their loved ones are forced to face the mountain of costs. In the UK, they have to pay around £40,000 for a year of accommodation. Depending on location, it can range from £20,000 to £60,000 a year, and it can still easily climb up based on the level and quality of care you want.

It’s no secret that many of the elderly are forced to pay for themselves because of these costs. And how do they do it? They have no choice other than to sell their homes to avoid costing their families large sums of money just so they could reside in a place where they are cared for.

In 2016, over 50,000 pensioners were forced to sell their homes to pay for their admission to nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and that is on top of their children chipping in to be able to afford the costs per year. This is what many families in the UK, even those whose elders qualify for government funding, have been facing in the past few years.

They all think this current system is unfair. These people have worked hard and paid for insurance all their lives, only to lose everything that they have worked hard for so they could at least live comfortably for the rest of their days. While selling their family homes is a decision they make with a heavy heart, according to them, it’s unavoidable. The current social care system is failing its citizens, and this has been the norm for too long.

You really can change the world if you care enough.

Marian Wright Edelman

In The UK The Trend Will Continue Until 2020 and Beyond.

Despite the disappointment from the people, the trend of selling their homes to be able to pay for elderly care is seen to continue until the year 2020, and maybe even longer than that.

The government’s £72,000 cap on what older citizens will have to pay for assisted living, the plan to raise the assets people can have, and a change that could add the option to reduce the costs for self-payers are all being postponed until April 2020.

With this news, families in the UK have no choice but to go for the option they are being forced to take to be able to afford paying a social care home for their loved ones. While home care is a relatively affordable alternative, nothing beats the medical care and security offered by professional facilities.

Alternative Care from Around the World

There is another solution to cut the cost of elderly care, but it does require a lot of research and investigation before committing to it. That one involves relocation, but not just relocation from one province to another. It means moving to another country. There are many countries that are looking to provide such a care service to foreigners. One such country is Thailand. Thailand is currently ahead of its competitors for one major advantage and that is its medical facilities. It has made substantial investments in health care over several years and it continues to increase those investments on an annual basis.

Remember the care provided isn’t just found in care homes. The service can be provided on a one to one basis at home. This suits many seniors as they are very independent and just require help from time to time.

As you can see there are no signs that elderly medical care will become cheaper in the near future but there are several measures in place to consider that may provide the level of care one requires.

“The ideal place for me is the one in which it is most natural to live as a foreigner.”– Italo Calvino

Foreigner Moving to Chiang Mai? Get it Right First Time Around

Some expats find living in a foreign country very difficult. Some would say that some countries in the world aren’t actually different countries to them they’re in fact different planets to them!

To Some Expats Chiang Mai is Paradise

At 73, Frederickson, a self-described “very, very active retired lady,” decided to move to Thailand after a visit with her youngest brother and his wife left her “hooked.” Today, Frederickson stays busy the way most retired people do: Reading, gardening, painting and cooking. She also volunteers with the local theater group and works as a promoter and online marketer for her housemate’s company Best Tuk Tuk Tours.

The expat community in Chaing Mai continues to grow. Expats love Chiang Mai for many reasons but two of the biggest reasons are Healthcare and the Weather.

Chiang Mai was ranked by International Living as one of the top places to retire abroad in 2017, thanks to the low cost of healthcare and climate as well as overall quality of life.

Countryside Living

Countryside living can be cheaper but what about amenities like local hospitals, shopping, transport etc?

The buzz on the streets among the expat community is that there are 40,000 foreigners living in Chiang Mai some say the number is higher. The reason the number is high, apart from the two factors already mentioned, is the cost of accommodation you can get a downtown place for around $550.00.

To Some Expats Chiang Mai is Challenging

Research and more research

Being so popular Chiang Mai is getting more crowded each year bringing more traffic and more pollution. Not forgetting the burning season when fields are burnt for New Year’s crops when Chiang Mai suffers from reduced air quality.

Like we say below do your homework. Once you list out all the pros and cons you will have a better idea if Chiang Mai will work for you.

In our experience the pros tend to outweigh the cons, but each person’s idea of paradise is different, so do your research and homework.

However, other things in Chiang Mai can be a lot more expensive then back home. If you eat on the streets and get your food and clothes from the marvelous markets then yes you can live cheaper so it can be paradise. If you live uptown and eat in the posh western orientated restaurants and buy your food and clothes in the new western style shopping malls and try to do it on a budget then Chiang Mai may not be the best location for you.

Peter came to Chiang Mai on a budget but he wanted a western life style so he treated himself on a daily basis. One day he slipped over during the rainy season, broke his hip and broke the bank! His family flew over, paid his medical bills and took him back to America. The moral of the story, do your homework and you will be fine.

Before taking the leap why not do a reconnaissance trip for a month or so to get first hand experience, and to determine if your budget and income would live up to your expectations.

No one wants to get sick, anywhere. But if you get sick in Thailand you’re in luck. You are in the best country anywhere in the world for medical care.

This is the country that pioneered medical tourism, practically invented the term, way back in the 1950’s and still attracts more foreign patients to its modern hospitals than any other country.

Where to go: Private or Public Hospital:

By far, the greatest number of foreign patients chose to go to one of many excellent private hospitals in Chiang Mai. There you will get first-rate treatment, regardless of the medical issue.

There is only one problem that you will have to deal with—you will have to pay for the medical service provided at the time you use it.

While Thailand does provide a level of free medical care to its citizens, foreigners will have to pay.

But there is another choice most foreigners are not aware of—public hospitals. The same great system, at a far more affordable rate.

Public hospitals are where most Thai people go when seeking medical care. While it doesn’t have the aquariums stocked with exotic fish in the waiting rooms, there is not a thing inferior about the city’s public hospitals. Most of the doctors practicing in Chiang Mai’s public hospitals also teach at Chiang Mai University’s Medical School. No private hospital can boast of the same highly credentialed staff, many with time spent abroad and degrees from international medical institutions.

Prices at Chiang Mai’s public hospitals are markedly more affordable for both Thais and foreigners than they are at the city’s private hospitals.

Tips – eat healthy always.

Photograph by Jamie Street via Unsplash

It is a good deal for the foreigner, but like a lot of good deals it does come with a price—navigating the complexities of the public hospital system is complicated. Even native born Thais can find it bewildering.

You will need someone to help you.

You will need someone like Somying and her colleagues, a native speaking Thai, but trained in nursing in the UK.

They do the whole thing, all the paperwork to access the system and assist you every step of the way, from chosing a physician, getting prescriptions filled and negotiating the payment of all bills.